Scopa MPs question Social Development Minister Dlamini on dodgy spending
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini had a rough time when she appeared before Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday. Dlamini, who is also the president of the ANC Women’s League, had to account for her department’s shambolic finances and for allegedly shirking ministerial duties in favour of doing President Jacob Zuma’s bidding. Scopa heard from the department and from the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa). The agency posted R1.1bn in irregular expenditure in 2015-16 through functions including security services (R414m), registration of grant beneficiaries (R316m), lease payments (R223m) and forensic investigations (R74m). Sassa also reported R10.9m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Of this, R1.2m arose from Dlamini’s cancellation of her attendance of a department event. The minister said Zuma had redeployed her to other duties, but she could not recall details of the redeployment.
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